Curatorial Assignment
Jon C. Davis
Curatorial Assignment #1
The theme for my gallery exhibition will be fluxus. The art movement/ theme "fluxus" originated in the 1960's. Similar to the theme "art and the quotidian object", which means art of the everyday (found) object(s). Fluxus loosely translates to flow or change in many different languages. In comparison, Fluxus has many similarities with Marcel Duchamp's "dada" art movement from the 1920's. While dada is more of a world view, fluxus, on the other hand, is more of a state of mind/ attitude that represents anti-art (anti commercialism) and follows in dada's footsteps. Fluxus also meshed well with the ongoing and/or perpetuating rebellious attitudes of the sixties and seventies. Fluxus went against everything that modernism stood for at the time, but mainly against the overall seriousness of modern art. Fluxus art usually always consists of different media types, including performances, videos, recordings, texts, everyday (found) objects, and unscripted audience participation. Many of these are done/ shown in a random fashion and are frequently used in combination with each other. Another important characteristic is the minimal nature of fluxus. Works are simple, performances were kept brief, the art was small, and texts short. An important element in fluxus has always been humor as well. Fluxus art also encourages a sort of eco/ environmentally friendly ethic to the world because most fluxus artists will use whatever materials they have on hand to create their art with.
Although the theme of this exhibition "fluxus" has much in common with dada and art & the quotidian object, it's of curatorial interest because most of the different forms or art created in this genre are not generated particularly and/or solely for monetary gain. At least that is usually not the case for most of the performance pieces, videos, recordings, etc. In my opinion, this makes for the most purest form or art because the artist is creating these
Curatorial Assignment #1
The theme for my gallery exhibition will be fluxus. The art movement/ theme "fluxus" originated in the 1960's. Similar to the theme "art and the quotidian object", which means art of the everyday (found) object(s). Fluxus loosely translates to flow or change in many different languages. In comparison, Fluxus has many similarities with Marcel Duchamp's "dada" art movement from the 1920's. While dada is more of a world view, fluxus, on the other hand, is more of a state of mind/ attitude that represents anti-art (anti commercialism) and follows in dada's footsteps. Fluxus also meshed well with the ongoing and/or perpetuating rebellious attitudes of the sixties and seventies. Fluxus went against everything that modernism stood for at the time, but mainly against the overall seriousness of modern art. Fluxus art usually always consists of different media types, including performances, videos, recordings, texts, everyday (found) objects, and unscripted audience participation. Many of these are done/ shown in a random fashion and are frequently used in combination with each other. Another important characteristic is the minimal nature of fluxus. Works are simple, performances were kept brief, the art was small, and texts short. An important element in fluxus has always been humor as well. Fluxus art also encourages a sort of eco/ environmentally friendly ethic to the world because most fluxus artists will use whatever materials they have on hand to create their art with.
Although the theme of this exhibition "fluxus" has much in common with dada and art & the quotidian object, it's of curatorial interest because most of the different forms or art created in this genre are not generated particularly and/or solely for monetary gain. At least that is usually not the case for most of the performance pieces, videos, recordings, etc. In my opinion, this makes for the most purest form or art because the artist is creating these